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APPARATUS FOR RENDERING AND PBESSING.

,314. Patented Feb. 2,1897.

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APPARATUS FOR RENDERING AND PRESSING.

Patented Fab. 2, 1897.

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UNITE STATES PATENT QEEICE.

EMIL HOLTHAUS, OF CANARSIE, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO CYRUS C. CURRIER, OFNEVARK, NEW JERSEY.

APPARATUS FOR RENDERING AND PRESSING.

S?ECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N0. 576,314, dated February2, 1897. Application filed August 11, 1896. Serial No. 602,415. (Nomodel.)

To all whom it may concern..-

Be it known that I, EMIL HOLTHAUS, a citizen of the United States,residing at Canarsie, county of Kings, State of New York, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for Rendering andPressing, fully described and represented in the followin gspecification and the accompanying drawings, forming a part of the same.

The object of this invention is to furnish improved means in arendering-tank for pressing the material at the close of the renderingoperation and for draining oif the expressed fluid.

My present invention furnishes means for alternately depressing andelevating the several pistons in a series of tanks by conneciionsuccessively with a single hoistingrope. To accomplish this object, Iprovide, in conjunction with such a series of renderingtanks, anelevated track extended over all of the said tanks and provided with ahoisting-carriage and pulley having a hoistingrope. A stationaryhoisting-drum is provided to draw the said rope horizontally, and thepulley upon the carriage transforms the movement to a vertical one, sothat when the carriage is adjusted over each of the said tanks themovement of the rope may be used to actuate any of the pistons atpleasure. It has been common heretofore to shift a reciprocatingmechanism from one apparatus to another where it is desired to operatethem successively; but I avoid the use of reciprocating mechanism byproviding each rendering-tank with a reversing-pulley and an auxiliaryrope adapted to connect with the hoisting-rope when it is required toforce the piston downward by the upward movement of the latter. Iprovide the tank with a perforated piston to permit the escape of fluidupwardly; and to facilitate the discharge of the fluid from the materialbelow the piston I provide the tank with a sectional lining, which ispreferably formed with vertical slots expanded outwardlyto clearthemselves readily from obstructions. The sections of the lining may beformed of straight bars (one between each pair of the slots) sustainedWithin the'tank by hoops attached to the shell of the latter, or thesections maybe attached to the inner faces of boxes applied to theapertures in the shell.

In rendering-tanks employinga movable piston it has been common tofurnish the inside of the tank with a vertical series of outletholes todrain off the liquid which accum ulates on top of the piston, and greatdifficulty has been found in preventing such holes from clogging by thepressure of the material into the same during the descent of the piston.The clogging of the holes may be prevented by movable plates adapted toclose the apertures during the pressing operation.

My invention alsofurnishes a free outlet for the liquid upon the top ofthe piston by providing upon the inner wall of the tank a verticalchannel, which is open above the piston and which is wholly closed belowthe same, whatever the position of the piston. The opening of suchchannel is covered bya slide-valve, which for convenience is extendedthrough a stuffing-box on the bottom of the tank. The slide-valve ispreferably attached to the piston and depends from the same, so as toconstantly close the outlet-channel below the piston, while leaving thechannel en tire] y open above the same. The slide-valve takes the placeof one or more of the vertical bars of the grating and slides betweenthe remaining bars as the piston moves up and down within the tank.

These improvements will be understood by reference to the annexeddrawings, in which- Figure 1 is a diagram showing three rendering-tankswith reciprocating mechanism for actuating their several pistons inturn. Fig. 2 is a plan of one of the tank-covers. Fig. 3 is a sectionalelevation of one of the tanks upon double the scale of Fig. 1. Fig. l isa cross-section on line 4 4 in Fig. 3. Fig. 5 shows the bottom of therendering-tank. Fig. 6 is a diagram, upon a greatly-enlarged scale, ofseveral of the grating strips or sections with the means of attachingthem to the hoop, and Fig. 7 is a section of one side of the tank uponline 7 7 in Fig. 3 upon twice the scale of Fig. 4. Fig. Sis a partialsection of the tank with external draining-boxes. Fig. 9 is across-section on line 9 9 in Fig. 8. Fig. 10 is a cross-section ofdraining-box on line 10 10 in Fig. 8. Fig. 11 is an inner view to dumpinto such hoppers.

of the draining-box, and Fig. 12 a section on line 12 12 in Fig. 10.

Figs. 1 to 7 will first be described.

A, A, and A designate the rendering-tanks in Fig. 1; B, the outlets ofthe same, connected with a common delivery-pipe B,which in practice iscommonly connected with a d ryin g apparatus.

C designates the cover of the tank, and D the inlet-hoppers, which areextended from a floorD, upon which the garbage can be carted E is thepiston-rod, extended through stuffing-box E to move the piston F within.the tank.

G is a cross-head upon the top of rod E, provided with an eye G at thetop for hoisting the rod and with eyes g at opposite sides for theattachment of the reversing-ropes ll. These ropes are extended overreversing-pulleys II, which are journaled upon the head C and arefurnished above the floor with a common connection h, having an eye 7b.The floor is supported by beams D and the tanks are supported by beams Dand a flanged track I is supported over the series of tanks by beams D.

A carriage J is provided with four rolls J to fit the lower flange ofthe track upon opposite sides of the same, and sustains the means forhoisting the rod E when adjusted over the same. A hoisting-pulley K isshown upon the carriage, and a hoisting-rope K is extended from the sameto a winding-drum K by which the rope may be hoisted in any position.

A hook 7; is shown at the end of the rope K to engage the eye h, asshown in Fig. 1, when it is desired to force the piston downward, theupward pull of the hoisting-rope being converted by the reversing-ropesl1 and the reversingpulley II into a downward movement at the cross-headG. The pistonrod of the middle tank is shown in its lowest position, andthe carriage J and hoisting-rope K are shown in dotted lines arranged toengage the eye G upon such rod to hoist the same by a direct pull.

A weighted pawl l is shown pivoted upon the carriage J, and a tooth Z isshown upon the track I in a suitable position to retain the carriage inthe proper relation to each of the piston-rods. The carriage, with itshoistingrope K, furnishes a reciprocating mechanism adapted to raise andlower the piston-rod of either of the tanks in turn.

The sectional lining or grating is shown in Figs. 3, 4, 6, and 7, formedof vertical bars m, which are secured in close proximity to one anotherupon hoops n, which are supported by studs 0 within the shell of thetank at a suitable distance to form a waterchannel 0 The bars are shownin Fig. 6 secured to the hoops by rivets n and are narrowed toward thehoops, so as to form slots 0, expanded toward a d raining-chamber 0 Thehoops and the grate-sections secured thereon form a cylindrical liningwhich may be COlIlpleted outside of the tank and provided with theprojecting studs 0 to center it within the shell. The outlet from thefunnel is provided with a gate B and a conical drainingchannel B isformed within the funnel and connected openly with the chamber 0 outsideof the grating. When inserted in the tank, the lower end of the slottedlining rests upon the inner surface of the funnel A and the periphery ofthe piston is fitted to move freely within such lining. At one side ofthe tank bars m are secured at a suitable distance apart to form avertical opening 19 from the chamber 0 to the interior of the tank, theadjacent edges of the bars being beveled to form a dovetail connectionwith the slide-valve M, the outer side of which lies against the hoopsa. The valve is preferably attached at its upper end by a foot M to thepiston F and is projected at its lower end through a stuffing-box P uponthe funnel A of the tank. The piston is perforated to discharge theexpressed fluid upward. The inner wall of channel B is perforated todischarge the expressed fluid, and an outlet-pipe bis extended from thelowest part of the channel to draw off such fluid. A steam-pipe b isconnected to the interior of the chamber B to discharge steam within thesame, and thus through the perforated lining and the perforations of thechamber B for cooking the material in the rendering operation. Thesteam-pipe Z) is opened and the outlet-pipe b is closed when rendering,and the reverse arrangement is made when pressing and draining. A passage D is formed through the grating at the lower end of the hopperD,and the channel 0 is closed by partition 0 upon the bottom and sides ofsuch passage, so that the material to be rendered may be discharged fromthe passage within the slotted lining when the piston is wholly raised,as indicated by dotted lines F in Fig. 3.

Instead of liningthe entire shell of the tank with the grating andforming the waterchamber 0 between the shell and such grating the shellmay be formed wit-h a number of vertical apertures extending throughoutthe whole movement of the piston, a section of the grating applied toeach of such apertures, and a draining-box secured upon the outer sideof the shell over each aperture and provided with a separate outlet-pipeto carry off the expressed fluid.

Figs. 8 and 9 show a tank thus constructed with four draining-boxes,three of which (lettered q,) are shown integral with the shell, and thefourth, q, made detachable and secured by flanges. A section m of thegratin g formed with integral slots 0 is shown fitted to the inner sideof one of the drainingboxes q, while the detachable draining-box q isprovided upon the inner side with a fixed grating m having round holes,which are prevented from clogging by a movable plate in, fitted to therear side of such grating and arranged to close the holes and preventany current of material through the same during the descending movementof the piston. The movable plate m is provided with holes correspondingwith the grating m and is moved by a crank r and a rock-shaft 5, havinga handle tupon the outer side of the drainingbox. When the plate m israised a suitable distance, as shown in Fig. 12, the holes in thegrating m are closed, as during the descent of the piston, andthereafter the movable plate is depressed so that its holes correspondwith those in the grating and the fluid is permitted a free escapethrough the grating to the water-chamber within the draining-box, fromwhich it is discharged by outlet-pipe o The boxes are preferably formedwith hand-hole covers 1) to remove any accumulations.

These devices produce the same result, and the method of rendering withthe apparatus is as follows: The hoisting apparatus is adjusted over oneof the tanks and the piston F elevated to its highest position. The gateB is then closed and the material inserted through the hopper. The steamis then admitted by the pipe I) and the material cooked until the greaseis separated therefrom. The piston is then forced downward, and thegreater part of the fluid pressed upwardly through the holes in thepiston, escaping freely from the upper portion of the grating to thewater-chamber outside the same. With the construction shown in Figs. 1to 7, the valve M closes the valve-opening 19 below the piston, and thefluid escapes laterally through the slots 0 in the grating as well asupwardly through. the holes in the piston. These slots are made verynarrow so as to permit the passage of the fluid chiefly, and any fibrousmaterial which catches in the slots is removed .in great part in thefurther advance of the piston by the friction of the material in itsdownward movement. Any material which crowds its way through the slotsis materially freed by their expansion toward the outer side, and thecurrent of fluid carries such material away through the outlet-pipe b orb The fluid which passes from and above the piston is not compelled topass through the slots, which are liable to be more or less clogged inthat portion over which the piston has passed, but as the valve M movesdownward with the piston the valve-opening 19 above the same permits aperfectly free discharge for the liquid.

\Vith the construction shown in Figs. 10 to 12, inclusive, the closingof the apertures in the grating m prevents the movement of the materialthrough the same during the pressing operation, and the subsequentopening of the apertures by moving the plate m permits the fluid todrain from the material and to escape from the space above the pistonwith the utmost freedom.

The draining-boxes formed upon the outside of the shell possess acertain advantage over the continuous water-chamber 0 formedconstruction which permits the draining apertures to be cleaned withfacility, is of great value in the operation of such renderingtanks.

It is found in practice that a very slow movement for the piston isdesirable to press the fluid most effectively from gelatinous or animalmatters, and I therefore in practice construct the piston of nearlysufficient weight to produce the desired pressure, by which means verylittle additional force is required in the reciprocating mechanism topress the piston downward.

The slide-valve M and the movable plate m produce substantially the sameeffect, as both secure a free opening for the escaping fluid and preventthe passage from the same from being clogged during the pressingoperation, the slide-valve keeping the opening p closed where thematerial is under pressure and moving downward as the material iscompressed to open the same for the escape of the fluid above suchmaterial. The movable plate m holds the draining apertures closed Whilethe material is under pressure and is afterward moved to open suchapertures to drain the material freely. t

The slide-valve M and the piston are shown connected to move together,but they may be moved independently with the same result, as theslide-valve may, like the movable plate m be employed to wholly closethe opening 19 during the pressing operation, and then drawn downward toa proper level to discharge the fluid above the piston. The slide-valvemay be thus actuated by any suitable means, but its connection with thepiston renders it wholly automatic and obviates the employment of suchmeans.

It has been common heretofore where the bottom of the material has beenexposed to the steam to exclude the material from the funnel by a screenand introduce the steam below the same, but such construction preventsthe discharge of the material down ward and necessitates itsremovalthrough a door in the side of the tank. By forming the funnel with theconical draining-channel B perforated upon its inner Wall the bottom ofthe material may be thoroughly cooked and drained, while its dischargeis effected at the bottom of the funnel with the utmost facility. Suchconstruction thus permits the application of the steam to the entiremass of the material from the top to the bottom and drains it freelythroughout the same extent.

I tlll aware that perforated receptacles have been supported within arendering-tank, and also receptacles formed of vertical bars; but I havefound by experience that it is undesirable to obstruct the interior ofthe tank with any mechanism whatever, and I therefore furnish thedraining appliances entirely at the sides of the tank and leave thefunnel at the bottom entirely unobstructed for the convenient dischargeof the material through the gate B Having thus set forth the nature ofthe invention, what I claim herein is- 1. The combination, with acylindrical rendering-tank, of a cylindrical grating, lining the tank,and formed of separate vertical bars, with intervening vertical slotsexpanded outwardly between said bars, a drainingchamberbetween suchgrating and the wall of the tank, a piston movable Within the grating,and a pipe or pipes having connections with the draining-chamber toalternately inject steam and draw off the tank-water, substantially asherein set forth.

2. The combination, with a rendering-tank, of the draining-chamber atthe side of the same with an outlet-pipe for the liquid, and a verticalvalve-opening extended into the tank, a piston movable vertically in thetank, and a slide-valve adjustable in the opening to drain the waterfrom the tank, as and for the purpose set forth.

3. The combination, with a rendering-tank having a draining-chamber atthe side of the same, with a vertical valve-opening extended into thetank, of a piston movable vertically in the tank, and a slide-valvemovable with the piston to close the said opening below the level of thepiston, and an outlet from the said chamber, as and for the purpose setforth.

4. The combination, with a cylindrical rendering-tank,of a cylindricalgrating lining the tank and formed of separate vertical bars withintervening vertical slots expanded outwardly between said bars, adrainingchamber between such grating and wall of the tank, a verticalvalve-opening in such grating, a piston movable vertically in the tank,and a slotted valve adjustable in the opening to drain the water fromthe tank, as and for the purpose set forth.

5. The combination, with a rendering-tank.

having a vertical chamber on the side of the same, with an outlet fromsaid chamber, a vertical opening from the chamber to the interior of thetank, a piston movable vertically in the tank, a stufling-box in thebottom of the tank in a line with the said opening, and a slide-valveextended through the said stuffing-box and adjustable in the saidopening, as and for the purpose set forth.

6. The combination, with a series of rendering-tanks provided each witha piston and piston-rod, of a track extended above all of said tanks, acarriage movable upon the said track with a hoisting-rope dependingtherefrom, a reversing-pulley upon the renderingtank, a head upon thepiston-rod with reversing-rope extended from such head around thereversing pulley, and means for connecting the hoisting-rope in turnwith the head and with the reversing-rope, to reciprocate the piston,substantially as herein shown and described.

7. The combination, With a rendering-tank having a piston movablevertically therein, and provided in the shell with a vertical aperturethroughout the movement of the piston, of a grating fixed in suchaperture, a draining-box secured upon the shell of the tank outside ofsuch grating with an outlet for the liquid, and a movable plate fittedto the outer side of the grating and having corresponding perforations,and connected with a handle exterior to the draining-box to adjust suchmovable plate, the whole arranged and operated substantially as hereinset forth.

8. The combination, with a rendering-tank having a piston movablevertically therein, and provided in the shell with a series of verticalapertures extending throughout the movement of the piston, gratingsapplied to the said apertures, and draining-boxes out-' side of the saidgratings to form water-chambers, with separate outlets for the waterfrom each of the said chambers, the whole arranged and operated as setforth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

EMIL HOLTHAUS.

Witnesses: I

THOMAS S. CRANE, EDW. F. KINSEY.

